Externally adjustable pressure regulator

ABSTRACT

An externally adjustable pressure regulator includes a body having a shoulder, a longitudinal axis and a high pressure inlet. The body has an opening along a side. A bonnet has a regulated pressure outlet and is engaged with the body. A piston is positioned in part in the body and the bonnet. The piston has a shoulder, a longitudinal bore and a transverse bore at about the end thereof in flow communication with the longitudinal bore. A spring is disposed on the piston. A wedging element is positioned in the opening in the body side and is in contact with the spring. An adjusting ring engages the wedging element to move it into the spring to increase compression of the spring and off of the spring to decrease compression. Increasing compression of the spring increases a spring force of the spring on the piston and decreasing compression of the spring decreases the spring force on the piston.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an externally adjustable fluidpressure regulator, and more particularly, to an externally adjustablepressure regulator that can be adjusted without disassembly of theregulator.

Pressure regulators are used in many fields, including in air rifles,industrial applications, and the transportation field. Plunger typeregulators are a straight-forward and efficient devices to continuouslyregulate an output or working pressure. Collinear regulators, those inwhich the inlet and the outlet share a common axis, do not allow foradjusting the output pressure without out discharging the internalpressure, and disassembling the regulator to make the requiredadjustments.

Accordingly, there is a need for a straight-forward and efficientpressure regulator the permits the output pressure to be adjusted froman external element on the regulator, and without disassembling theregulator to makes such adjustments.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, an externally adjustable pressure regulator, comprisingincludes a body having a shoulder, a longitudinal axis and a highpressure inlet. The has an opening therein along a side of theregulator.

A bonnet is engaged with the body. The bonnet has a regulated pressureoutlet. The body and bonnet can be threadedly engaged with each other.

A piston is positioned at least in part in the body and at least in partin the bonnet. The piston has a shoulder, a longitudinal bore and atransverse bore at about the end thereof. The transverse bore is in flowcommunication with the longitudinal bore. A spring is disposed on thepiston, The spring can be, for example, a coil spring.

A wedging element is positioned in the opening in the body side and isin contact with the spring. In embodiments, the regulator includesmultiple wedging elements. In embodiments, the wedging elements areballs.

An adjusting ring engages the wedging elements to move the wedgingelements into the spring to increase compression of the spring and tomove the wedging elements off of the spring to decrease compression ofthe spring. The adjusting ring can be configured with an angled surfaceto cooperate with the wedging elements. In embodiments, the adjustingring is threadedly engaged with the body.

Increasing compression of the spring increases a spring force of thespring on the piston and decreasing compression of the spring decreasesthe spring force of the spring on the piston.

In embodiments, the body includes a seat and the piston includes asealing element engageable with the seat. The piston can includes ashoulder such that the spring is positioned on the piston against theshoulder.

Further understanding of the present disclosure can be obtained byreference to the following detailed description in conjunction with theassociated drawings, which are described briefly below.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of an externally adjustable pressure regulator aredisclosed as examples and are not limited by the figures of theaccompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similarelements and in which:

FIG. 1 is across-sectional illustration of an embodiment of anexternally adjustable pressure regulator in an open state;

FIG. 2 is cross-sectional illustration of the externally adjustablepressure regulator of FIG. 1 shown in a closed state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the present disclosure is susceptible of embodiments in variousforms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be describeda presently preferred embodiment with the understanding that the presentdisclosure is to be considered an exemplification and is not intended tolimit the disclosure to the specific embodiment illustrated.

An externally adjustable pressure regulator 10 permits adjusting anoutput pressure of the regulator 10 from an external element on theregulator 10, without disassembling the regulator 10 to makes suchadjustments. As seen in the figures, the regulator can be a linear orcollinear device.

The regulator 10 includes a body 12, a bonnet 14, a plunger or piston16, a spring 18, a force manipulator or wedging element 20 and anadjusting element 22. In an embodiment the spring 18 can be a coilspring as illustrated, spring washers and the like, and the adjustingelement 22 can be, for example, an adjusting ring.

The regulator 10 includes a high pressure (or unregulated pressure)inlet 24 and a low pressure (or regulated pressure) outlet 26. The body12 and bonnet 14 define respective bores 28, 30 therethrough. The body12 and bonnet 14 can be threadedly engaged with one another asillustrated at 15. A longitudinal bore 32 is formed, in part, in thepiston 16. The piston 16 can include transverse openings or bores 34 atabout an end thereof that are in flow communication with the piston bore32.

A sealing element 36 is disposed at about an end of the piston 16 andcooperates with a seat 38 in the body 12. The seat 38 can be formed aspart of the body 12 or can be an element that is positioned in the body12. The seat 38 may be removable to, for example replace the seat 38.One or both of the seat 38 and sealing element 36 can be formed from aresilient material such as a polymeric material. The other of the seat38 and the sealing element 36 may be formed from a rigid material, suchas a metal. In some embodiments the seat 38 is formed as part of thebody 12. An orifice 40 is defined by or at the seat 38.

The piston 18 moves within the body 12 between an open state as seen inFIG. 1 in which the sealing element 36 is spaced from the seat 38 and aclosed state as seen in FIG. 2 in which the sealing element 36 isengaged with (or seated on) the seat 38. The spring 18, which ispositioned in the body 12, between the body 12 and the piston 18, urgesthe regulator 10 to the open state. The spring 18 rests on a shoulder 44of the piston 16.

The force manipulator or wedging elements 20 are positioned against ashoulder 46 on the body 12 and in contact with the spring 18, capturedin the regulator by the adjusting ring 22. The shoulder 46 serves as afixed surface against which the wedging elements 20 act. Referring toFIG. 1, as the wedging elements 20 are urged inward of or toward thebody 12, they contact and urge the spring 18 to a compressed state.Conversely as the wedging elements 20 are moved outward from the body12, they allow the spring 18 to expand. Movement of the wedging elements20 inward and outward (or into and out of contact with the spring 18)can be accomplished by the adjusting element 22, e.g., the illustratedadjusting ring.

In an embodiment, the adjusting ring 22 includes an angled surface 48having a larger diameter region 50 and a smaller diameter region 52. Asthe ring 22 is moved such that the smaller diameter region 52 engagesthe wedging elements 20 (FIG. 1), the ring 22 urges the wedging elements20 inward to compress the spring 18. Conversely, as the ring 22 is movedsuch that the larger diameter region 50 engages the wedging elements 20(FIG. 2), the ring 22 allows the wedging elements 20 to move outwardlywhich in turn allows the spring 18 to expand.

It will be appreciated that compressing the spring 18 increases thespring force and conversely allowing the spring 18 to expand reduces thespring force. In addition, as the ring 22 is moved to urge the wedgingelements 20 inward to compress the spring 18, the spring 18 force thatis exerted also influences the piston 16, that is, it moves the piston18 to a further open condition (moves the piston to the left in thefigures).

In operation or use, a high pressure or unregulated pressure fluid, suchas an unregulated compressed gas such as compressed air source isconnected to the inlet 24. The gas flows into the inlet 24 and throughthe orifice 40 into a region 54 between the orifice 40 and the piston16. It will be appreciated that the width of the piston 16 at thesealing element 36 is smaller than the width of the body bore 28 so thatthe gas can flow around the sealing element 36, into the pistontransverse bores 34 and into the piston longitudinal bore 32.

The gas flows through the piston longitudinal bore 32 and out throughthe low pressure or regulated pressure outlet 26. As the gas pressure atthe outlet 26 increases, it induces a force on the piston 16 (at thepiston back face 56 and interior 58). When the pressure increases to alevel at which the force on the piston 16 (created by the gas pressure)overcomes the spring 18 force, the piston 16 moves to the right (as seenin the figures) to close the regulator 10 (FIG. 2). Conversely, when thepressure in the low pressure side (outlet 26) decreases, the force onthe piston 16 decreases and the spring force urges the piston 16 to theleft to open the regulator 10 (FIG. 1).

Adjustability of the regulator 10 is accomplished by moving theadjusting ring 22 so as to urge the wedging elements 20 inward (tocompress the spring 18) and increase the outlet pressure, or to move thewedging elements 20 outward to allow the spring 18 to expand anddecrease the outlet pressure.

It will be appreciated, the adjusting ring 22 can be a ring thatthreadedly engages with the body 12 (as seen at 62) such that rotationof the ring 22 facilitates regulator 10 adjustment. It will also beappreciated that the wedging elements 22 can take many forms, such asangled wedge surfaces, balls and the like that can be positioned inopenings 60 at various circumferential locations around the body 12. Itwill also be understood that although the body 12 is illustrated as twoseparate parts in the figures (see FIG. 1 reference numbers 12 a, 12 b),the body 12 is a single part with the body 12 being contiguous otherthan at those locations (the openings 60) at which the wedging elements22 (such as the balls) are positioned in the body openings 60.

In the present disclosure, the words “a” or “an” are to be taken toinclude both the singular and the plural. Conversely, any reference toplural items shall, where appropriate, include the singular. All patentsand published applications referred to herein are incorporated byreference in their entirety, whether or not specifically done so withinthe text of this disclosure.

It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that anyrelative directional terms such as sides, upper, lower, top, bottom,rearward, inboard, forward, outboard and the like may be for explanatorypurposes only and may not be intended to limit the scope of thedisclosure.

From the foregoing it will be observed that numerous modifications andvariations can be made without departing from the true spirit and scopeof the novel concepts of the present disclosure. It is to be understoodthat no limitation with respect to the specific embodiments illustratedis intended or should be inferred.

1. An externally adjustable pressure regulator, comprising: a bodyhaving a shoulder, a longitudinal axis and having a high pressure inlet,the body having an opening therein along a side thereof; a bonnetengaged with the body, the bonnet having a regulated pressure outlet; apiston positioned at least in part in the body and at least in part inthe bonnet, the piston having a shoulder, the piston having alongitudinal bore and a transverse bore at about the end thereof, thetransverse bore in flow communication with the longitudinal bore; aspring disposed on the piston; a wedging element, the wedging elementpositioned in the opening in the body side and in contact with thespring; and an adjusting ring, the adjusting ring engaging the wedgingelement to move the wedging element into the spring to increasecompression of the spring and to move the wedging element off of thespring to decrease compression of the spring, wherein increasingcompression of the spring increases a spring force of the spring on thepiston and decreasing compression of the spring decreases the springforce of the spring on the piston.
 2. The pressure regulator of claim 1,wherein the body and bonnet are threadedly engaged with one another. 3.The pressure regulator of claim 1, wherein the adjusting ring isthreadedly engaged with the body.
 4. The pressure regulator of claim 1,including a plurality of wedging elements.
 5. The pressure regulator ofclaim 4, wherein the wedging elements are balls.
 6. The pressureregulator of claim 1, wherein the body includes a seat and the pistonincludes a sealing element engageable with the seat.
 7. The pressureregulator of claim 1, wherein the adjusting ring includes an angledsurface for engaging the wedging element.
 8. The pressure regulator ofclaim 5, wherein the adjusting ring includes an angled surface forengaging the balls.
 9. The pressure regulator of claim 1, wherein thespring is disposed on the piston.
 10. The pressure regulator of claim 1,wherein the spring is coil spring.
 11. The pressure regulator of claim 1wherein the piston includes a shoulder and wherein the spring ispositioned on the piston against the shoulder.